Steele Bunnies
by gilmoradict
Summary: It is my goal that these characters embody the best of those created for the television series Remington Steele. Any resemblance to actual people and places is entirely unintentional.


March 1986

_If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work._

A scouring wind screamed through the stained stones of the cemetery, sweeping a twisting funnel of leaves into the dark beyond. Wisps of cloud disintegrated in the shifting gusts, occasionally allowing the light from a quarter moon to briefly illuminate the eerie setting. A massive brick church loomed over the graveyard, dark and still, a single glowing red light visible through a narrow window in the door.

Steele's gaze narrowed as the church's side door silently opened and a dark figure slipped through. A second, slighter figure, followed a few seconds later.

"What is the enigmatic Miss Holt up to now? And couldn't she have at least have warned me she was going to be out on an all night escapade?"

Resigned to watching for her next move from this vantage point, Steele scowled with irritation and hunched forward a bit to better see the darkened entryway from where he crouched, secluded behind a monument.

"Unconscionable; weeks of mysterious absences from the office to run in a bloody race, a whirlwind weekend in New York, sleeping under an overpass to elude a killer, and now this. The woman's appetite for activity is appalling. How does she manage without sleep?" Steele grumbled under his breath. Fighting to stay awake, he rubbed his eyes and tried to remain focused on the door through which his partner at the agency which bore his name had disappeared.

The chattering of an indignant squirrel scolding from a tree limb woke Steele. Groaning, he unfolded his cramped limbs and peered blearily up at the officious creature. Gradually getting his bearings, taking into account the streaks of pastel color seeping across the horizon, he massaged the ache in his back as he stretched. Hurriedly seeking the watch which persisted in remaining obscured by the sleeve of his coat, Steele staggered to his feet. The church doors were closed and silent. No other person could be seen amongst the tombs.

"Ohh…. no, NO! Fred!? Fred?" Steele abandoned the cemetery grounds in long legged strides, swiftly reaching the limo and its acquiescent driver, who was dozing in the front seat. Rapping sharply on the window Steele barked out "Shake a leg, Fred; Rossmore! Let's assume the constabulary are all in church!"

Within the hour Steele, showered, shaved and nattily attired in a dark suit, blue shirt and deep rose tie, had resumed surveillance of his partner, this time from a corner near her loft. Fred was happily consuming an omelet Steele had thrown together, under the circumstances the very least the detective could do for this uncomplaining accomplice. Steele scowled and drummed his fingers against his cheek, pondering why Laura had shut him out of whatever investigation had absorbed her ever since they had unraveled the pick six ticket fiasco that had kept them on the run together night and day for over 48 hours.

The night in front of his fireplace sipping wine had seemed most amiable.

The next morning at the office had been uneventful, outside of Frances' moderate hysteria over the detective's apparent deaths. He had spoken with her himself in an apparently successful effort to sooth her ruffled feathers, and agreed to join the Pipers and Laura for Sunday dinner at two o'clock.

And then Laura had inexplicably suggested he meet her in Tarzana, saying she had an early morning appointment. On a Sunday?

Mildred merely shrugged and said, "Beats me, Boss," when grilled about Miss Holt's activities.

At about that point Laura had breezed out of the office yet again, assuring him she would see him Sunday at the Piper's house.

Glowering over being once again shut out of whatever was going on, Steele almost missed a demurely dressed Laura as she walked briskly out of her loft to slip into her Rabbit and speed away from the loft.

"Tail her, Mr. Steele?" Fred asked.

"Yes, yes, certainly, by all means, Fred. Just stay far enough back that she doesn't spot you."

"Yes, Sir. Looks like she's getting on the highway and heading north again."

"Blast it all anyway. Back to where we camped out last night?" Steele made a strangled sound. "You mean we could have just waited there for her?!"

"Well, we nearly did, Sir. You couldn't be certain where she'd gone while we slept."

"Thank you, Fred. Apparently the only member of the firm that functions without sleep is the indefatigable Miss Holt." Steele settled back into the seat with a disgruntled scowl. The robin's egg blue sky and blush of spring green was wasted on him as he rolled possible reasons for Laura's taciturn behavior round his thoughts. The trust issue. It always came back to her not trusting him.

Fred stayed a cautious distance back from Laura, who indeed led them to the church they had left hours earlier. The tomb-like solitude of the early morning hours was over. The howling spring wind of the previous evening had blown through, the day was crystal clear, the church and the courtyard beyond it bathed by beaming pacific sunlight.

Laura parked her car blocks away from the church; indeed she could not have done otherwise. The surrounding streets were lined with cars, the people they had brought walking briskly toward the church. Glancing quickly at her watch, Laura joined the throng. Little girls in pastel dresses and shiny shoes danced alongside mothers in breezy flowing skirts; little boys looking stiffly uncomfortable in blazers and dress shoes walked stoically next to fathers in suits and ties. The occasional child clutched a stuffed rabbit and one or two swung small wicker baskets.

As Laura approached the front doors of the building, thrown open invitingly this morning, a little girl ran from the church to fling her arms around Laura's waist. After hugging her, Laura took her hand and walked through the doors.

Steele stood outside the limo at the edge of the crowd, staring in puzzlement at the church building that had once more swallowed Laura.

"Easter, Sir," Fred offered through the open window.

"Easter." Steele repeated the word to search out Fred's meaning.

"Chocolate rabbits, jelly beans?" Fred expanded helpfully.

"Of course," Steele responded, looking not particularly enlightened by Fred's cryptic comment."Chocolate rabbits?"

"There was a corner market a few streets back, Mr. Steele. I'm sure they'd have candy there."

Suddenly tumbling to Fred's suggestion, Steele opened the door of the limo and smiled. "One quick stop, Fred, and the rest of the day, as well as the next three, are yours to do with as you please."

Steele entered the church through the same broad double doors that had swallowed Laura and her tiny companion earlier. As traffic outside had suggested the sanctuary was packed wall to wall with Easter worshipers.

Setting the basket he had acquired down in a corner of the narthex, he glanced across the sea of heads.

An uncomfortable prickle crept up Steele's back, a discomfort born of years when attendance at services of this sort had been legislated by either stern family members or weary, taciturn brothers of the church. The institutional church and clergy had been no friend to him, yet its beliefs and call were as much a thread of who he was as the brogue that crept into his speech at unexpected moments. He ran a hand nervously across the back of his head.

Pacing slowly back and forth behind the nave, Steele glanced up occasionally to try to focus on those seated in the pews. The crowd blurred together. He was unable to locate any individual with enough power to draw him across the threshold and into the intimidating throng.

A small hand slipped into his.

Startled, Steele looked down to find Laura's niece, Laurie Beth, beaming up at him.

"Hi, Mr. Steele! Are you gonna come sit with us?" Already turning to tug her quarry down the aisle toward the rest of the Piper's, tiny Laurie Beth held Steele helpless in her grip. Reaching her family, she pulled Steele into the pew after her into a space that didn't exist until he unconsciously lifted her into his lap.

"Look who I found, Aunt Laura!" the child whispered into her aunt's ear.

Laura's face was a controlled mask.

Steele smiled weakly at her.

A hymn brought the group to its feet, triumphant strains swelling to the arched rafters.

"I thought you were going to meet us in Tarzana?" Laura hissed under cover of the music. "How did you find me here?"

Taking the hymnal Laurie Beth offered him and paging through it, he responded after a moment, "Well, it is Easter and I just thought…"

Thought failed him at this point, as indeed, Easter had never actually entered his thoughts, and had it, going to church with Laura on that day would probably not have occurred to him. This was one more facet of Laura's past, and his, which had never been brought to light; still, in a flash he could see the Holts lined up in church. Laura, shining hair brushed over her shoulders, earnestly singing hymns in her angelic voice, lined up with Abigail, Frances and the timid little dark-eyed little brother they had lost. Blinking, he cleared the picture in his mind to focus on the very real woman standing next to him.

"I brought you a chocolate rabbit," he offered meekly.

Her eyes and attention apparently focused on the hymn she was singing, a dimple deepened against her will.

Despite his discomfort at coming in, Steele felt oddly comfortable being in church with Laura, the Pipers and Abigail. As the Pipers began negotiating the press of worshipers leaving the church following the service they assured Steele how glad they were he had joined them. If they wondered why he hadn't arrived with Laura, they kept that question to themselves. Abigail Holt was at the far end of the family grouping, her eyes darting from her younger daughter to Steele and back again, a smile blooming on her face as she seemed to process the possibilities of more than a working relationship between the two.

"Abigail! So good to see you!" Before Abigail could pounce on Laura and Steele an old friend pushed through the crowd to grasp her hands. Several other women spotted Abigail and monopolized her attention as the family and Steele moved slowly down the aisle toward the door.

They had nearly reached the door before she had an opportunity to reach for Steele's arm."Mr. Steele! May I call you Remington? I'm SO glad you were able to join us. I'm sure Laura has told you that she grew up at this church - Sunday school, youth group, acolyting, church choir."

Laura shrugged slightly at Steele's blue gaze. He saw her in this place. In that moment he saw that the concern Laura had for others, her sense of right and wrong, and her appreciation for the deeper order of things had been nurtured in an institution that had been anything but nurturing for him.

As they reached the doorway the minister, who was greeting each worshiper as they departed, held Laura's hand warmly in both of his. "Laura! I can't tell you how grateful we are for your agency's help with our little security concern. It was an answer to prayer when Frances mentioned your connection to Los Angeles's most successful private detective. Mr. Steele, I understand you have wrapped things up for us!"

"Mr. Steele and I were happy to look into your concern, Reverend Hayes." However elusive she might be with her partner, Laura focused a lovely smile and warm gaze on the minister.

Steele swallowed nervously as he reached out to shake the Reverend's hand. "Father, always happy to give the clergy an assist." Turning to Laura, he continued. "Of course, Laura has handled most of the work on this case herself. She's a wonderful detective in her own right."

"Well, you must consider yourself fortunate to have her part of your agency – just as pleased as we are to have Laura, Frances, Donald and the kids with us again," Reverend Hayes beamed at the whole family. "Easter joy to all of you. Good-day!"

Steele picked up the basket Fred had helped him procure, pulling from it an bouquet of flowers for Frances and a chocolate rabbit for each of the children before falling into step next to Laura. Leaning down he murmured, "Security matter, Laura? Did I miss something?"

"Just some routine surveillance work, Mr. Steele. I really didn't think you'd be interested."

"Why Miss Holt, everything about our work interests me! No detail is too small, no stakeout too routine, no trail too challenging. Speaking of which, may I ride to Tarzana with you? Fred dropped me here earlier."

Whirling suddenly to face Steele, hands on her hips, Laura glared up at him, brown eyes snapping. "You've been following me. That's how you knew where I was this morning. Of all the low handed, dirty tricks you've pulled, this has got to be the…"

Before she could say another word, Steele stuffed a chocolate egg into her mouth. Involuntarily closing her eyes as she allowed the chocolate to melt on her tongue, Laura paused briefly.

"Don't think this is over yet, Mr. Steele. There's an issue of trust here."

"I agree, Miss Holt," Steele responded. "An issue of trust."

The short drive from the church to the Piper home in Tarzana was silent save the happy chattering of Laurie Beth, who had begged to ride with her Aunt Laura and Mr. Steele.

"Are you going to hunt for Easter eggs with us? This is our first Easter egg hunt in California! Last year it snowed on our eggs and Daddy had to go find them for us."

"No snow today, Darlin'; just a little bit of frost," Steele quipped.

The look Laura shot him would have quelled a lesser man.

As they pulled up in front of the house, Laura was out of the car and up the walk without waiting for Steele. She turned at the door, Laurie Beth having already run into the house.

"Do you really trust me so little that I can't take a step without your having to know where I am and what I'm doing? What kind of partnership is this?"

"What kind of partnership do we have if you won't share information with me and run off to pursue your own cases without giving me a clue as to what's going on?" Steele met Laura, glare for glare.

Laura backed down first, rubbing her temples with both hands."Fine. Maybe I was a little evasive."

Turning and walking a few steps away, Laura stood silently for several seconds before facing Steele again. "How deep are we willing to go? You've become a fixture in my city, my agency, even my family. There isn't much of me left that you aren't part of."

Laura's chin rose imperceptibly as her eyes locked on Steele's. "How deep, Mr. Steele?"

Steele reached out to cup Laura's cheek with his hand, stroking it gently with his thumb, when the door swung open and Frances peered out.

"Laura! Remington!" The pair leaped apart, startled at Frances' interruption. "There you are! Come inside for goodness sakes! The children are anxious to begin their Easter egg hunt!"

Though Mindy and Danny were doing their best to look disinterested in the anticipated hunt for Easter treats, Laurie Beth was excited enough for all three.

"I know what you think, Remington," Donald said sheepishly, "'The children of a dentist have no business eating candy.' My feeling is that if we deny them the occasional treat, we make the treats that much more attractive. They'll eat a little candy, brush their teeth – no harm, right?"

"Daddy, is it time, is it time?" Laurie Beth was jumping up and down in front of Donald.

"Just let me get the video camera ready, Donald," Frances asked as she hoisted a boxy camera to her shoulder. "OK, smile and wave now, children! All right, Donald, open the door."

Despite their apparent apathy, both Danny and Mindy managed to beat Laurie Beth out the door to begin snatching colored eggs up from the lawn and tucking them into the baskets each of the children carried.

Laura, Steele and Abigail followed the Piper's into the backyard. Steele watched for a moment before asking, "Would anyone mind if I participated?"

Frances looked startled. "Well, I suppose that would be fine, though I don't have an extra basket…"

"Won't need one," Steele assured her as he set off at a long legged lope to scoop an egg up off the ground, dropping it into Danny's basket, even as he smoothly lifted two others out. He spun by Laurie Beth, dropping the two eggs into her basket before swooping her up to reach an egg hidden in the branch of a flowering bush. When she had it in her hand he flew her by Mindy and with a finger directed her to deposit the egg in her sister's basket. The hunt took on comic dimensions as the children traded treats and raced around Steele in a good-natured free for all that had everyone laughing.

Steele collapsed on the patio at Laura's feet, and turned with a lopsided grin to offer her another foil wrapped egg.

Taking it with a smile, Laura asked, "Can I assume this was your first Easter egg hunt, Mr. Steele? What did you think?"

Popping a handful of jelly beans into his mouth Steele answered, "Makes about as much sense as your American football, but the spoils at the end are better."

The three Holt women worked surprisingly well together, producing a delicious meal. Steele, listening to their interaction as they worked, found it difficult to concentrate on conversation with Donald. He was relieved when Mindy convinced her father to come outside with her, leaving him alone to listen from outside the kitchen. Abigail was brashly confident in her advice, Frances self-effacing in her suggestions and Laura firm in her observations.

"You just can't make too many mashed potatoes. Men love potatoes," Abigail asserted confidently.

"Well, Mother, my Donald actually prefers pasta, but Margie gave me this wonderful recipe using sour cream and ranch dressing mix," Frances countered, fluttering.

"Mother, the recipe calls for eight potatoes – there's no reason to make any more," Laura reasoned.

Steele smiled. Logical, wonderful, Laura.

Following dinner, Steele and Donald volunteered to clean up the dishes. When they had finished, they found the women sitting in the family room, Abigail and Frances visiting quietly on one side of the room while Laura sat on the sofa with her eyes closed.

Steele sat down next to her. Laura drew a breath in with a sweet sigh and settled against his shoulder. Gently, he reached out to gather her close within the tender circle of his arm. Perhaps the long days and nights of work had indeed caught up with his irascible partner, who seemed lost in a rare moment of repose.

Abigail interrupted her conversation with Frances to look at the pair on the sofa and scold gently, "Mr. Steele, you and your agency expect too much from Laura. Look at her! She's exhausted."

Steele smiled and waited a long moment before replying, afraid his speaking would awaken Laura, but equally afraid to allow Abigail's remark to go unchallenged.

"Abigail, I'm sure you are aware that your daughter is very much her own person. Laura, and Laura alone, determines what cases she pursues, and how much time she devotes to each. Woe to the man – or woman - who questions her assessments in that regard."

"And you wouldn't think of doing that, would you, Mr. Steele?" With a throaty rumble Laura weighed into the conversation.

Surprised to find that the Laura who allowed him to claim the intimacy of a one-armed embrace in the midst of a family gathering, had been awake, aware, and still acceptant, Steele felt warmth flood his body. Was he being allowed further in? The grin that spread across his face was irrepressible. As to managing Laura's comings and goings?

"Oh, I might think about it, Miss Holt, but I'd think twice before putting thought into words."

"Do you see how perfect he is for her, Mother?" Frances murmured as Abigail laughed.

The high-heeled foot that found Steele's toes barely bruised.

It was some time before Laura and Steele said their good-byes and walked down the Piper's short walkway to the Rabbit. Abigail had extracted a firm commitment for dinner with the pair later in the week, before she returned to Connecticut, where she was thinking seriously of putting her house on the market, now that both her girls were settled in California. While Laura found the meaningful look Abigail used when delivering this news annoying, she had managed to keep a smile on her tightly compressed lips and merely nod at her mother, before replying in a slightly strangled voice, "Frances and I would love to have you close by."

Steele stopped, balancing on one foot as he pulled a sticky mass from the bottom of his shoe. Squinting as he held it up for examination, he postulated, "Marshmallow rabbit?"

Laughing, Laura agreed as she handed the car keys to Steele. "Hazard of the holiday."

As they pulled away from the house, Steele glanced over at Laura before inquiring, "Should we swing by the church once more before we make the drive back to LA proper?"

She leveled a long, bemused look at him before parrying with, "You really want to go back again?"

"Well, this morning's company was the most pleasant I've ever had in a pew, – at least during a service. There _was_ a rainy night when a friend and I sought shelter in a small church in Barbados…"

"A friend? I don't suppose that friend was Monroe?"

"Yes, well, he showed up eventually." Steele's lopsided smile slid across his face. "As far returning to the church now, I'm merely suggesting we're close. Conserving fuel and time… "

"No need, Mr. Steele. As our old friend Murphy would say, 'cut and dried.'"

"And our 'case,' Laura? What, exactly did we find?"

"Reverend Hayes suspected the church's bookkeeper was embezzling funds from the congregation. I spent a couple of nights investigating the numbers and when the bookkeeper become nervous, tailed him and caught him red handed. I did the work as a favor to someone who mattered very much to me at one point in my life."

"Reverend Hayes?"

"He was a good friend to our family." Laura faltered, looking down at her hands for a moment before looking up at Steele. "The kind of friend I imagine you could have used at times."

Without realizing he had directed the car there, Steele drove to the street where the limo had waited the night before. He parked and turned to look at Laura. The sun was low in the sky, washing the sky behind the church with deep blues and streaks of gold, orange and pink.

"I can see you in this setting, Laura. While the church of my childhood may not hold particularly good memories for me, I now have a wonderful memory of a little girl who looks very much as I suspect you once did, leading me by the hand into a church and right to someone very special to me. The person I need in my life now." Reaching with two long gentle fingers, Steele tipped Laura's face toward his. The brilliant colors of the setting sun caught in her freckles and shown from her eyes and he smiled as he lowered his lips to hers.

The colors had faded to a deep cobalt when they pulled back, slightly dazed, to look at one another.

"Home, Miss Holt?"

"Home, Mr. Steele."

As Steele straightened and prepared to pull away from their parking spot, he reached into his pocket, pulling from it a small, weighty wrapped object. Balancing it for a moment in his hand, he smiled finally and handed it to Laura.

"I believe I promised you a chocolate rabbit?"


End file.
